Extreme healthy eating disorder

Most of us have heard of anorexia nervosa, bulimia or even binge eating disorder but what about orthorexia nervosa?

A doctor in America called Steven Bratman has just written a book coining the term "orthorexia nervosa" -- a term for those who take healthy eating to the extreme.

It's an obsessive-compulsive driven disorder that affects males and females equally, with vegans and raw foodists most likely to be victims.

People who have a past history of an eating disorder are also at a higher risk.

Eating healthily is something good for all of us to strive for. It's when eating extremely healthy interferes with a balanced lifestyle -- and you find yourself socially isolating because you fear eating "unacceptable" foods made by others -- that it becomes a problem.

Relationships can become impaired and the disorder can negatively affect your whole life.

People who struggle with orthorexia say foods and eating patterns become very ritualistic. For some, it takes days to prepare a meal from homegrown organic products. Others obsessively catalogue every food they eat, worry about how pure the food is, and base their self-esteem on how well they maintain purist behavior.

Basically, orthorexics consider themselves a "good person" when they eat pure foods, but a "bad person" if they eat the wrong food.

The medical consequences associated with extreme orthorexia can include emaciation, malnutrition and even death by starvation due to severe dietary restrictions.

How is orthorexia different to anorexia?

Orthorexia may seem like anorexia as the physical symptoms are similar -- both disorders present the following: extremely low body weight, the risk of developing osteoporosis, an absence of menstruation for women, low testosterone levels for men and the potential of death by organ collapse from starvation.

However, Dr Bratman says there is a significant psychological difference between the two. Someone with anorexia is emaciated but thinks they are fat -- whereas someone with orthorexia is aware of their extreme thinness but is fine with it, as long as they feel "pure."

It's important to note that some anorexics may "hide" behind the orthorexic way of living to sustain their low body weight.

Treatment to cure orthorexia

No matter which disorder is at the forefront, treatment is necessary to bring health back to the body. A medical doctor, a dietitian and a therapist experienced in treating all kinds of eating disorders -- including orthorexia -- can help those wanting to regain their health and balanced lifestyle.

Do you have orthorexia: the test

Bratman offers these 10 signs of orthorexia from his book, Health Food Junkies -- Orthorexia Nervosa: Overcoming the Obsession with Healthful Eating, which can be ordered through Amazon in the United States.

You could have orthorexia, or be on the way to developing it, if you:

1. Spend more than three hours a day thinking of food.2. Plan your day's menu more than 24 hours ahead of time.3. Take more pleasure from the "virtuous" aspect of your food than from actually eating it.4. Find your quality of life decreasing as the "quality" of your food increases.5. Are increasingly rigid and self-critical about your eating.6. Base your self-esteem on eating "healthy" foods, and have a lower opinion of people who do not.7. Eat "correct" foods to the avoidance of all those that you've always enjoyed.8. Increasingly limit what you can eat, saying that you dine "correctly" only at home, spending less and less time with friends and family.9. Feel guilt or self-loathing when you eat "incorrect" foods.10. Derive a sense of self-control from eating "properly."

The doctor says people who relate to more than four of the above signs may be engulfed in this obsessive (and potentially fatal) form of eating.

This article was created by Alex Brooks for Kidspot, Australia's leading parenting and health resource. Sources include Good Morning America and Psychology Suite 101.

Last revised: Wednesday, 31 March 2010

This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.